Secrets and Insecurities
by chameleon377
Summary: Starting at the beginning of his third year, Draco continues to struggle with insecurities. It is a normal day at Hogwarts when he notices a Ravenclaw girl, who apparently know's Draco and all about his family, including his family's secrets. Is she just clever, or is it something more than that? And will Draco be able to resist knowing, or will his curiosity drive him toward her?
1. Chapter 1

This is my first fanfiction so i hope you all like it! I have a plan as to where this all is going, but it's going to start a little slow so I hope you all can just bare with me. obviously, there will be events taking directly from the movies and books, so I'm just going to say J.K. Rowling wrote and created the world of Harry Potter, I'm just here to write my own story off of her world. I hope you all enjoy! :)

The Great Hall was alight with the usual bustling atmosphere that is to be expected on a bright morning. The ceiling to the Great Hall showed everyone the brightness of the morning sky as students groggily walked about, grabbing muffins or pieces of fruit off the long tables. Some students took the time to take a seat and enjoy a plate of eggs and bacon, but the majority of students were already beginning to wander off toward their first classes. This was the case for thirteen year old Draco Malfoy. He strode through the Great Hall wearing the usual Hogwarts robes with a green and silver Slytherin tie slightly showing, bringing out his grey/blue eyes. His hair was slightly messy, which was new compared to his usual slicked-back look. He walked boldly up to the Slytherin table, picked up a green apple, and went toward the back of the hall where he met up with Crabbe and Goyle, who wore a dreamy stare.

"What are you two idiots gawking at?" Draco demanded.

"Nothing!" Crabbe offered, blinking wildly. He turned his attention toward Draco.

"Yeah, nothing." said Goyle, turning down the hall as if to start walking away.

"If you buffoons want to go back for more breakfast, you better hurry. We have fifteen minutes to make it down to the Oaf's class."

"You mean Hagrid's class?" Crabbe asked wonderingly.

"Just shut up and go get your damn breakfast." They both bustled into the Great Hall and stuffed their pockets with as many muffins as they could carry. Draco looked down, put his hand up to his face and shook his head in disappointment. _Why do I associate myself with the likes of them?_ He thought silently. _If I had any sense I would leave now._ But he didn't. He waited and as they came back, both of them with their hands and mouths full. They headed outside and down towards Hagrid's hut where the rest of the class was gathering.

As they joined their classmates, Hagrid made his appearance in front of the group. "Gather 'round everyone! I got a real treat for yeh terday! Now c'mon!" He walked off behind his hut and lead the class a short way into the forest where there was a clearing. He then left the class to mingle while he lumbered away to get the class's "treat". Draco immediately turned to his favorite hobby, which was tormenting Potter. Nudging Crabbe and Goyle, he told them what to do. They all put the back of their robes over their heads.

"Hey, Potter!" Draco yelled. As Harry turned, they all "ooooooooooooo-ed" while waving their hands at him, mimicking the oh-so-scary dementors. Hermione grabbed him and shoved him out of the view of Draco and gave him a furious look. Draco turned back to his friends and laughed. They all continued to laugh about how Harry fainted on the train.

Draco was laughing about a comment Crabbe had made when he noticed someone he didn't recognise. She was sitting alone under a tree with a book in her lap. She was looking down at her book, so Draco couldn't see her face, but she had very light brown hair with what seemed to be streaks of blond and red when it hit the light just right. She bit into a red apple as Draco and his gang walked over to her.

"You must be new," Draco said in his usual arrogant tone. "In case you were wondering, this is a class. You shouldn't be sitting over here not paying attention." She looked up at him with a start. She was pretty, but almost in an innocent way. She had pale skin with a light sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks. Her eyes were blue and almond shaped, and her lips were light pink and formed a shy smile. Draco noticed with slight disappointment that she was wearing a blue and bronze striped tie.

"I'm sorry, I was unaware that the professor had returned." she said bitingly. Her voice was soft, almost shy, though it was made evident she did not want him there. He ignored that fact.

"Oh, he's not back yet. I was only saying you shouldn't be such a loner. How about joining the rest of the class?" Draco held out a hand to help her up. She looked at it with a neutral expression.

"I'd really rather not. I'm fine here." she said as she looked back down and continued to read her book as though he wasn't there.

Draco opened his mouth to say something, but nothing would come out. He couldn't find anything to say. He was shocked that he was being told no. That almost never happened. He thought of something smart to say to her about her rudeness towards him, but instead he said "What's your name anyway?"

"Why do you care? From what I hear, anyone that isn't in Slytherin isn't worthy of your kindness. And in case you were blind, my colors are from Ravenclaw. Not Slytherin."

"Ooo-hoo-hoo-hooo," Goyle cooed.

"Shut up," snapped Draco.

"Ashley!" someone called from the crowd behind them. "Is he bothering you? Because if so, I could gladly take care of him for you." Draco spun around and saw Cedric Diggory striding toward them.

"Mind your own business, Diggory." Draco said cooly.

"Yeah! Mind your own business!" Crabbe yelled boldly.

"Yeah!" said Goyle.

"It's okay, Cedrik. They were just leaving." She raised her eyebrows at Draco as Cedric sat down next to her and put his arm around her.

"Yeah, just leaving." Draco murmured. He turned to leave, but before he did he gave her a sideways glance. She was laying her head on Cedric's shoulder. Draco walked back towards the rest of the class just as Hagrid was walking forward with a massive beast of some kind.

"This here is a hippogriff!" Hagrid said proudly. He went on to tell the class about how to approach a hippogriff. Draco was hardly paying attention. He was silently talking to Crabbe and Goyle about "pompous Cedric Diggory" and about how ridiculous the "oaf's" class was. He started paying attention just as Hagrid was saying "They are very proud creatures. You do not want to insult a hippogriff. It may be the last this you ever do….. Now who wants to say hello?"

The entire class took a step back. Draco didn't understand why. This creature didn't look all that frightening. Everyone around him looked a little startled by it though.

"Harry!" Hagrid yelled in excitement.

 _Of course. Saint Potter has to be the one to step forward and show everyone how brave he is._ Draco thought bitterly, although the look on Harry's face was not one of bravery at all. He looked just as frightened as the rest of the class, but he stepped forward as Hagrid beckoned him forward. Draco just wasn't having a good day. First, the new girl, Ashley apparently, had the audacity to talk back to him. Then, Diggory had to make a fool of him even further. Now, Saint Potter is being made out to be this brave and courageous person. Draco was sick of it. He shoved through the crowd of students watching Harry approach the hippogriff. As he did so, he bit into his green apple.

Once the hippogriff bowed back to Harry, everyone _applauded!_ This made Draco even more angry. Why was it always someone else who got all the applause? Someone else who got all the praise? Someone else who everyone liked? His own father didn't even think very much of him. Why was everyone's standards of people so high? Why wasn't he good enough?

The next think Draco knew, Hagrid was putting Potter on the damnable thing and it was taking off, galloping into the forest until it finally extended its wings. Everyone in the crowd was gasping as they took to the skies. Draco rolled his eyes and sulked off back toward where he had talked to Ashley. That tree by himself sounded pretty good right now. Well, as close to by himself as he could get, because Crabbe and Goyle followed him everywhere.

"It's ridiculous how everyone loves him so much." Draco thought. He must have thought out loud because someone answered his thought.

"Who, Harry?" It was a girl's voice, not Crabbe's or Goyle's. Draco turned around and saw that it was Ashley who had spoke. She was walking toward him with her arms folded.

"Who else would I be talking about?" Draco snapped back, turning back around. He walked back toward the tree.

"Maybe because he's actually nice to people? Ever thought of that?"

"No," Draco said coldly. "because there are lots of people who are nice around here. Not just him."

"I don't know, everyone around here seems to be liked a whole lot more than you are." Ashley said.

"What do you know? You've been here for how long?" Draco's anger was building inside of him. He was not going to let some girl tell him that no one liked him. He had friends! Crabbe and Goyle have been his friends since before he was even able to fly a broomstick! There was also Pansy and Blaise, though they weren't all that close. They didn't really talk to him that much at all, come to think of it. But that didn't matter. There were others, too. "You don't know anything about me!"

"I know enough. I've only been here a couple weeks, but I've heard all about you, Draco Malfoy. You think you're entitled to everything just because you're a Malfoy and your family has money and because your father was one of You-Know-Who's top death eaters."

"He was not! He was acting under the Imperi-"

"Oh don't think you can lie to me, Draco. I know that lie better than anyone at this school." She looked at him angrily.

"What do you-"

"Here they come!" Everyone in the class suddenly was gasping and pointing toward the sky as the hippogriff flapped its magnificent wings and landed on the forest floor. It galloped forward a few steps before slowing down. Hagrid grabbed Harry off of it and set him on the ground while yelling "Well done! Well done Harry, well done! And well done Buckbeak!" All the students ran to crowd around Harry and clap him on the back and cheer for him.

Draco turned around to find out what Ashley meant, but she was gone. He turned back around toward the class and noticed that she was in the crowd surrounding Harry. Not only that, but she had resumed her place under Cedric's arm. They were both smiling and cheering along with the rest of the students. Cedric paused to kiss her on the brow and she smiled up at him.

Draco turned away from the crowd. This all was just pissing him off beyond belief. He didn't know what to do. He didn't know what Ashey meant, but did he really even care? Why should he? And thinking back to what originally sparked their short lived conversation, how dare she assume no one liked him! Harry Potter was only loved by everyone else because he was, well, Harry Potter! There was nothing that made Harry better than him. Nothing! He could do anything Harry could do! Including riding that damn beast.

Draco located where the hippogriff was standing alone grazing. He walked up toward the animal briskly. Why is Saint Potter made out to be such a brave asshole when he could easily do the same things he could? Why isn't he made out to be brave by everyone? He was about twenty feet away from the animal now, and it hadn't charged or attacked or anything yet.

"You're not so dangerous at all are you? Great ugly brute." Draco said bitterly as he closed the distance between himself and the hippogriff. As he spoke, the animal reared, flapping its wings angrily. Draco looked up in shock. It towered above him for a second before it came down on him. Draco scrambled back to avoid the beast from crushing him, but the point of its hoof scratched down his upheld arm. Instantly pain seared through his limb as he fell to the floor. Hagrid came forward yelling "Woah" over and over again. The hippogriff was still unhappy when Hagrid pulled a dead ferret out of his belt and threw it into the forest where the animal chased after it and ate it.

Draco was rolling on the ground in pain moaning "Ahh, it's killing me! It's killing me!" His arm was in a world of pain and there was blood everywhere. Hagrid was over him suddenly and looking at his arm. Hagrid looked very nervous as he looked at him and said "C-calm down. I-i-it's just a scratch!"

 _It's obviously not just a scratch or else I wouldn't be in this much pain you oaf!_ he thought to himself, but he didn't have the mind to form his thought into words. Instead he just continued clutching his bleeding arm and moaning. Surprisingly, Herminone was the sensible one to come forward and say something.

"Hagrid!" she yelled. "He has to be taken to the hospital!"

The crowd of students all murmured and looked around at each other before Hagrid said "I'm the teacher, I'll do it." Hagrid gingerly picked Draco up, yelled "Class dismissed!" and started walking back toward the castle as Draco continued to moan in pain until he blacked out.


	2. Chapter 2

Madam Pomfrey managed to heal his arm pretty nicely using the healing spell Vulnera Sanentur, although he still had to apply dittany every day, keep it wrapped, and wear a sling for about two weeks. When Draco woke up the next morning and prepared to leave, Madam Pomfrey tried insisting he stay in the hospital wing another night, but he wanted to get back and resume his place among his peers. Maybe people would finally see that he was just as brave as Saint Potter. Word seemed to travel fast around the castle. He was almost positive that everyone had heard about the hippogriff attacking him.

It was pretty early in the morning when he walked into the Great Hall. Not many people were awake for breakfast yet, but Pansy and Blaise were sitting at the Slytherin table, so he decided to sit by them and begin telling his tale.

"The beast was fifteen feet tall! It was vicious and would have attacked again if Hagrid hadn't thrown raw, bloody meat for it to chase after. But by the time the hippogriff had run off, it had already done the damage." Draco gestured to his arm. Pansy gasped and was looking at him admirably, while Blaise kind of just looked at him. Draco could tell that he was questioning his story, but he didn't care much. He had Pansy hooked.

"How painful was it, Draco?" Pansy asked.

"It was pretty bad. I actually passed out, and actually for a good reason, unlike Potter. If it wasn't for Madam Pomfrey, another minute or two and I could have lost my arm."

"And it's your wand arm too… That's terrible!" Pansy said agast.

"Yeah, that does suck bro." Braise commented. Blaise didn't quite believe Draco's story, but he couldn't deny his injury.

"Yeah, I couldn't possibly do any homework for weeks." Draco said, a small smirk on his face. Pansy moved forward and reached out her hand and laid her fingers on his injured arm. Draco flinched away from her, half because the pain was still bad, half because he didn't want her to touch him, and snapped at her "Please! Don't touch it!"

By now many people were walking into the Great Hall and Crabbe and Goyle had joined them. A few others had gathered around to ask Draco if he was okay, and he was just soaking in the attention. People finally thought he was something more than just a bully. People, at least in Slytherin house, thought he was brave. As he was gathering his things so he could head off to class, a couple girls asked him if they could carry his bag for him. He allowed it, and started heading down towards the dungeons. He had double potions class today, which he was happy with. He was almost sure Snape would allow him to do nothing due to his injury. Snape favored him.

He was in a cheery mood as he got closer to potions class. That is, until he saw Ashley and Cedric outside of potions.

"What Malfoy, you have to make other people carry your things for you now?" Cedric asked.

"Don't you have your own classes to go to, Diggory?" Draco snapped back.

"Not this week. I got permission from Professor Sprout and Professor Flitwick to follow Ashley around and show her the castle and make sure everything goes well. You know, make sure she gets settled in and feels at home here."

"Isn't that just very gentlemanly of you." Draco narrowed his eyes at him, shoved past him, and walked into potions class. He took his seat in the middle of the classroom. He was a little bit early, but he liked being early. The girls put his bag down next to his desk. She smiled and waved at him. He smiled and waved back. They looked at each other and giggled, then hurried off to their own classes. As they walked out the door, Cedric and Ashley walked in. They took seats at the front of the class. Then, an awkward silence ensued.

Draco had forgotten all about Ashley until he saw her outside of class. Just looking at her irritated him now. He couldn't say why, but she just bothered him! He noticed her look back at him with a cool look. The same look she gave him in the forest when she said she "knew that lie all too well". He still didn't know what she meant by that and it was driving him crazy! He thought about asking her about it, but he had a feeling she wouldn't tell him if he did. He also had a feeling she would deny she said anything like that in front of Cedric.

Students filed into the classroom; some in groups, some alone. By the time Professor Snape walked in, most of the class had taken their seats and gotten out their text books. Draco decided he had better to the same. Snape noticed Draco fumbling with his left hand and asked if he would be capable to do today's lesson without spilling ingredients all over the floor. Draco told him probably not, and Snape nodded. Draco was off the hook for the day! He was still expected to follow along with his text book, but that was easy enough to fake.

The rest of the class Draco sat trying to not think about Ashley and the things that she said, but it was driving him crazy! What could she possibly mean? " _I know those lies all too well."_ It made no sense! First of all, she couldn't possibly actually know his family well enough to know for absolute certain that his father was lying about the Imperious Curse while working under the Dark Lord. Unless her parents did the same thing, but that made no sense either because she was a Ravenclaw. No one who had parents who acted under the Dark Lord would ever be sorted into Ravenclaw. It was impossible. He just didn't understand! He kept looking at her, trying to remember if she had said anything else that could have hinted toward what she meant, but nothing came to mind. Nothing! He was getting very frustrated when Professor Snape dismissed the class.

Draco awkwardly gathered his things with his left hand and slung his bag over his shoulder. He had to talk to her, but he wasn't going to approach her with Cedric hanging around her constantly. Draco just had to wait until Cedric stopped following her everywhere. But how long would that be? Apparently until Ashley was used to it around here and could get around on her own… But again, how long would that be? Draco hoped for his own sanity that it wouldn't be more than a couple days.

The rest of the day went on in a droll, and nothing else interesting happened. Mostly everyone was at dinner that night and the Great Hall was echoing with everyone's conversations over dinner. Draco was talking to Crabbe and Goyle about how ridiculous every other professor was still giving him homework when his owl came and landed next to him. It was a black owl with orange eyes and two pointed tufts at the top of its head. It whistled softly as Draco took the letter from his beak. It picked up a chip from a bowl sitting in the middle of the table and flew off.

"Looks like father heard about what happened." Draco said smugly. "There will be a hearing a month from now at the Ministry of Magic."

"Will the half-wit get fired?" Pansy asked him.

"Well of course! Why wouldn't he?" Draco snapped at her. "His incompetence to control his beasts got me seriously injured. This could happen to anyone else who takes his class. He has no business being a teacher!"

"I'm just glad I didn't have to take his class." Pansy said.

"Well that's good for you. I'm going to go to the owlery and write back to father." Draco stood up and began walking out.

"Draco no, wait!" Pansy began getting up as well.

"No. I don't want you coming with me." he said sharply. She looked at him sadly and with longing, but she sat back down. He could feel her eyes on him as he walked out of the hall. She had been irritating him beyond belief lately. He could hardly stand talking to her.

He walked across the castle and toward the owlery. He was not looking forward to walking up all those stairs to the top of the tower, but he needed to write father. When he finally made it to the top of the tower, he was out of breath and glad to finally be there. It was a little chilly, and the wind wasn't helping, so he wrapped his robes around him tighter as he walked to find his owl. He wasn't watching where he was going and he ran right into someone.

"Oh, sor-" Draco realised who he had just ran into and stopped dead in his tracks.

"Draco." Ashley said cooly.

"A-Ashley." Draco stammered. He was not expecting to see her here at all. He didn't know what to say. Should he just come right out and ask her about what has been bothering him? Cedric didn't seem to be around, and this might be the only chance he will get to talk to her alone for a while. She had already started to walk away. "Hey, w-wait!" he called after her.

"What?" She turned around to face him, but she didn't walk back toward him, so Draco walked up to her.

"I want to ask you something…" Draco said slowly. He just didn't know where to begin. He was caught completely off guard.

"Well spit it out. I'm kind of in a hurry. I have a ton of homework that I need to get done, and I still haven't had time to get dinner." She folded her arms impatiently.

"I just wanted to know… The other day when you said 'I know those lies all too well'... What did you mean by that?" Draco asked timidly. He was afraid she wouldn't want to tell him anything. He hadn't exactly been very… Well, pleasant to her. She just looked at him with an emotionless expression. He didn't know why, but she was making him very nervous. "I know, I know… I'm probably the last person you would want to talk to about anything, especially something personal like this, but-"

"Well you're sure right about that." she said, her expression still neutral. Suddenly there was a chilly breeze that sent strands of her long hair in front on her face. She tucked them behind her ear and hugged herself in order to keep warm. Draco hugged his robes around him harder.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he said, pleading. "I'm sorry I'm such a jerk. But this is something I need to know. It's been driving me crazy! I can't think about anything else!"

"That's kind of weird… Why in the world would you be thinking about me so much? You don't know anything about me."

"I… Don't really know…." Draco had never thought it was weird that he was thinking and worrying so much about it. He really shouldn't be. He knew nothing about her, yet he wanted to know everything about her, and for no reason that he could really pin point.

"I'm not just going to open up to some random guy, especially not one that is as big of a jerk as you are." she snapped.

Draco normally would never let anyone talk to him this way, but she seemed to have power over him. He couldn't explain it. He just couldn't snap back at her. He just looked down at his feet and mumbled another apology. "I'm really sorry… Can we just start over?"

She looked at him. Her expression seemed to soften, but not by much, and she still hadn't unfolded her arms. She could just be trying to keep warm, but somehow Draco doubted that. She looked at him for a short while and said "You're going to have to earn it. I don't just hand out second chances. I wasn't raised like that." Her voice wasn't as hard as it normally was. It was softer and more sweet, though she still sounded guarded. She looked him in the eyes for the first time. In the soft moonlight her light blue eyes sparkled. She looked very pretty in the moonlight, but Draco wouldn't admit it to himself. He just looked back at her with a blank expression until she suddenly turned away and walked down the steps and out of sight. Draco half smiled, glad at the opportunity of a second chance. After about a minute Draco turned and resumed looking for his owl.


	3. Chapter 3

A few days had gone by and the castle was still gossiping about how the animal had attacked Draco, and some of the stories that were being told were pretty ridiculous. One rumor going around said that Draco had provoked the animal by throwing rocks at it. Another rumor said that Draco hadn't so much as looked at the blood-thirsty beast when it charged at him. Draco paid no attention to the rumors though. He was mostly focused on the upcoming hearing against Hagrid. His father was busy at the Ministry, ensuring they had people in their favor at the trial and writing Draco telling him what should and shouldn't be said. Draco was actually starting to feel nervous about the hearing, but he was confident that he would win the case. His father would make sure of that.

Today was another bright day, but it was starting to become colder and colder outside as fall was coming to an end. Draco, surrounded by Crabbe, Goyle, and Pansy were sitting inside the Defense Against the Dark Arts classroom. Nearly everyone was there, except a couple students and Professor Lupin himself. Draco sat leaning back on a desk with his legs sprawled out. It felt good for him to relax. He had almost fallen asleep by the time Professor Lupin walked in and set his bag down at his desk.

"Sorry I'm late everyone." he exclaimed. He looked around at the class, clapped his hands and rubbed them together. "Shall we get started?"

Draco got up from lounging on his desk and took a normal seat. His arm was still wrapped and bandaged, so he didn't bother getting out a quill and parchment.

"We won't be sitting at desks today, students. Today is more of a…. hands on lesson." He smiled at them all. Everyone got up from their seats and Lupin waved his wand. The desks all neatly piled up into the back of the classroom. "Today we will be learning about boggarts. Now who here can tell me what a boggart looks like?" He looked around at the class expectantly and of course, know-it-all Granger was the only one to raise her hand. He pointed to her and said "Yes, Miss Granger."

"No one knows." she said. "Boggarts are shapeshifters and transform into whatever the person fears the most. That's what makes them so-"

"So terrifying, yes, yes." Lupin waved her off. This made Draco smirk. He enjoyed seeing Hermione treated as a know-it-all, because she most certainly was one. "There is a simple spell used to counter a boggart. Lets try it now. Everyone repeat after me." he paused to make sure everyone was awake and paying attention. " _Reddikulus."_ he said clearly.

" _Reddikulus_ " the class repeated.

"Very good. Try it a little louder, and very clearly. Listen, _Reddikulus_!" He said more clearly.

"Reddikulus!" The class repeated louder.

"This class is ridiculous." Draco remarked. Crabbe snorted and Goyle let out a laugh.

"Now the spell alone isn't enough to defeat a boggart. What really defeats a boggart is laughter. Neville! Could you join me please?"

Draco snorted, trying to suppress a laugh. "Of course, when the teacher wants a good laugh he would call Longbottom forward." he whispered to Crabbe and Goyle. They both snickered. Draco then turned his attention back on the front of the class. He had a feeling this would be interesting.

"Now, Neville, tell us what frightens you most of all." Lupin gestured for him to speak. Neville muttered something under his breath and Lupin had to prompt him to speak up. "Sorry?"

"Professor Snape." Neville said, still clearly frightened.

"Professor Snape…" Lupin chuckled as the rest of the class laughed. He looked up thoughtfully. "Yes, he frightens all. And I do believe you live with your grandmother?"

"Yes, but I don't want that boggart to turn into her either!"

"It won't! Now, here's what I want you to do…" Lupin was whispering into Longbottom's ear. Neville looked scared, as usual. "Are you ready?" Neville nodded, looking terrified. Draco smirked again. He was getting quite a bit of amusement out of this.

"On three… One… Two… Three!" Lupin opened the wardrobe that apparently held the boggart. Out came Professor Snape, or at least the boggart that had transformed into him. He walked forward and Neville shrunk away from him, very similarly to the way he usually does in potions class. Draco couldn't help it. He laughed outloud. Neville drew his wand and shouted "Reddikulus!" There was a small swirling around the boggart and suddenly Professor Snape was dressed in a gown with a dead ferret scarf and a large, feathered hat. The class erupted with laughter, including Draco.

Everyone was forming a line in order to be the next ones to try at the boggart. Draco sneared at some of people's fears. Snakes, spiders, clowns… They all just seemed ridiculous to him! He tried thinking of his worst fear, but nothing came to mind. Malfoys don't fear anything, he thought cockily. But what would he see when faced by the boggart?

Draco noticed with a smirk that Harry was up next to face the boggart. Harry walked up and the boggart morphed into a dementor! "Merlin's beard!" Draco exclaimed, laughing hard. Lupin jumped in front of the boggart and it turned into a full moon emerging from clouds. He yelled "reddikulus" and it turned into a deflating balloon and flew back into the wardrobe. "That's enough for today! Class dismissed!" Lupin called to the class.

Everyone groaned and turned around sadly while Lupin said "Sorry, Sorry! Can't have too much of a good thing, can we?" Draco was still laughing when he walked out of the classroom. He couldn't believe it! Saint Potter was _that_ afraid of them! He laughed about it almost all the way down to the Slytherin common room. He then realised he hadn't been able to see what the boggart would turn into for him. He shrugged the thought off as it wasn't that important to him. Since his class ended early, he had some time to lounge before dinner.

Walking into the common room, he noticed that there was a lot more people gathered there than he would have liked. He was hoping to spend some time in peace and quiet. Pansy immediately ran up to him, wanting to chat about who knows what.

"Pansy, I really don't care." Draco snapped at her before she got more than a word out. Pansy looked down disappointed.

"Well, will you at least come sit by the fire with us?" she asked hopefully.

"Actually, I just came back to grab something." he lied. "I'm gonna go for a walk. Alone." he added just before she could ask to come with him. He walked up to his dormitory, stood there for a few seconds to make it seem like he had actually grabbed something, then walked back into the common room and exited.

He had no idea where he was going, but he knew he was in a good mood today. He didn't want anyone to ruin it, so he wanted more than anything to be alone. He walked upstairs to the Great Hall, decided on a different route with less people, and headed outside.

The grounds were nearly empty except for a few people walking around, coming up from either the herbology greenhouse or from the quidditch pitch. The air was cool and crisp as he breathed it in. A very light breeze rustled through his hair and he paid no mind to trying to fix it. He decided his destination would be the lake. The benches there sounded like the place he wanted to be. He sat at one of the benches that was farther away from the water and put his legs up. He decided that it would be a good idea to catch up on some reading for class, so he pulled out his astronomy textbook and began reading.

Some time passed when he heard footsteps behind him. He ignored them, figuring it was just someone going for a walk or something. When someone spoke in front of him it make him jump and almost drop his book. "Can I sit?" Draco looked up and saw that it was Ashley. She looked apprehensive. Today her hair was wavy as if it were just taken out of braids. Even wavy, her hair fell down just above her elbows.

"Sure." Draco said. He put his legs down and sat up, closing his textbook.

"Thanks." she said, looking down as she sat. Draco sat there awkwardly, not knowing what to say to her. They hadn't talked to each other in a few days, ever since that night at the owlery.

"Soo…." Draco said, just hoping she would say something to break the awkward silence.

"Listen, I'm sorry for being so rude to you the other night. And, well, every other time we talked. I thought about what all you said and I accept your apology. And if you still want to start over…. I'd really like that." She looked up at him, and he looked at her. Her eyes were soft this time, along with her voice. When she wasn't angry or being hard with him, her eyes had a way of smiling at him even when her mouth wasn't. He noticed for the first time how beautiful she was, though it was only for a split second he let himself think so.

"I'd like that as well." he said. She smiled at him for the first time ever, and this time he couldn't stop himself from thinking she was beautiful. His heart skipped and he smiled back at her.

"Okay, well…. My name is Ashley Ross Carrow." she held out her hand to shake his hand.

Draco grabbed her hand, shook it, and said "Draco Lucius Malfoy". She smiled and let go of his hand. He knew her last name from somewhere but he couldn't quite remember where… He was about to ask her about it when she spoke.

"Listen, Cedric wouldn't really appreciate me talking to you… He really doesn't like you. Pure loathing would be the right way to put the way he feels about you, actually. Him and some of his friends were the reason why I was so hateful toward you when we first met… I apologize again for that. I was just told you were simply awful so I just acted mean to you. But anyway, please don't tell anyone about us talking like this okay? I really don't want Cedric hearing about this."

"Okay, that's fine." he said. He actually hadn't planned on telling anyone about them talking at all anyway. It was unusual for him to talk to anyone outside of Slytherin house, and he wasn't about to make people think he had suddenly changed for this new girl. That would look suspicious, and it certainly wasn't like that!

"Thank you." she said. She looked back down and began biting her nails. She looked nervous for some reason.

"Is something wrong?" he asked.

"No, no. I just haven't really talked to anyone here besides Cedric and one or two of his friends. I'm not really used to this whole 'making friends' thing…"

"So then how did you instantly wind up being with Cedric?" she wasn't making any sense to him.

"It's a really long story… I'd rather not talk about it right now. But I will say that I've known him since before school started."

"Oh…" he suddenly felt awkward. He realised he just made her feel more uncomfortable, and that in turn made him uncomfortable. "If it makes you feel any better, I'm not so great at this either. I've had two friends my whole life, and I haven't really made an effort to make friends with anyone else."

"Yeah, I noticed you didn't really talk to anyone besides those two who always follow you around… What are their names again?"

"Everyone just calls them Crabbe and Goyle. I don't even think those two are bright enough to know they have first names" he said. She laughed. He realised he liked her laugh. It wasn't obnoxious like Pansy's. It was more of a chuckle, really, but it was pleasant. It made him smile.

"You really don't talk to anyone else?" she asked after a bit.

"Well, there is this girl that follows me around a lot. Pansy. But believe me, if I had any choice in the matter I would never talk to her again. My mother seems to think we will be married one day, but I disagree. I'd sooner throw myself off the astronomy tower than spend the rest of my life with Pansy Parkinson."

She laughed again. "Oh, come on. She can't be that bad!"

"Oh, yes she can! If you ever talked to her, you'd understand what I mean."

She looked down at her hands again, picking at her nails.

"What are you doing?" Draco asked.

"Oh, I tend to bite my nails a lot… I know it's a horrid habit but I can't seem to stop!" She put her hands in her pockets so she would stop playing with her fingers for the moment. Draco chuckled.

Another short awkward silence ensued before she looked out across the lake. Then she looked over toward the mountains and noticed that the sun was just barely touching the top of the summit. "Dinner will be soon, we should probably head back up to the castle" she said.

"You go, I'll catch up in a bit. I should finish my reading. Besides, you don't want to risk anyone seeing us walking up to the castle together, do you?"

She smiled and laughed lightly. "No, I guess not… Well, it was nice actually talking to you, Draco. I'll see you around?"

"Yeah, see you." He watched her get up and walk back towards the castle, then looked back over the lake. He knew he had heard her last name somewhere… But where he couldn't say. It didn't really bother him much, though. He was just glad they were finally on speaking terms. Hopefully sometime soon he would be able to figure this girl out and put his mind at peace. He looked down at his own hands and smirked thinking about his new secret he would be keeping to himself. _Today was a pretty good day_ he thought to himself. He noticed that he was going hungry, so he looked out across the lake one last time, sighed, gathered his things, and started walking across the darkening grounds toward the now lit up castle.


	4. Chapter 4

_Sorry it took so long for me to write this chapter. I've been so busy trying to get ready for college I just haven't had a lot of time. But here is a new chapter! I hope everyone enjoys! :)_

A few more days have gone by and today wasn't the brightest of days. The Great Hall ceiling opened up to an overcast sky with some dark clouds threatening to rain. This didn't damper the mood of everyone else, though. It was the first weekend that the third years were able to visit Hogsmeade, and everyone formed in a large group outside the castle waiting for the professors to escort them.

Draco lounged against a gargoyle casually while Crabbe and Goyle stood on either side of him. Though Draco had on a traveling cloak, he could still feel the crisp, late October air. He ignored it, though. He was in an astonishing mood today. He was more than excited to finally be able to get away from the castle for a short amount of time.

Crabbe and Goyle both sneering at everyone that walked by them, something that Draco normally would do along with them, but he was just in too good of a mood to be that way. Today would be a good day, he could just feel it.

Finally, Professor McGonagall appeared, flanked by Professor Snape and a few other professors. As the students began walking off toward the direction of the village, he overheard Professor McGonagall talking to Potter.

"I just thought that if you signed it then I could go!" Harry looked pleadingly at Professor McGonagall. This made Draco smirk to himself. Potter being upset in any way always made Draco pleased.

"I can't! Only a parent or guardian can sign and since I am neither it would be inappropriate!" she told him sternly.

At this, Draco turned around smiling broadly. "Looks like Potter is the only one who won't be going to Hogsmeade." Crabbe and Goyle snickered at this. All three of them turned and started strolling toward the village again. Draco realised that his mood continued to get better and better.

As the large group of third years drew nearer to the village, Draco wondered and what he was going to do first. He used to visit Hogsmeade when he was very young with his father, but as he grew older his father stopped wanting to spend time with him and became more harsh so their visits to places like Hogsmeade had dwindled in numbers until they were all but nonexistent. Draco still remembered all of his favorite places, and although he wouldn't be able to go to them all, he wanted to do as much as he could.

As the group of students came upon the village the professors stopped them.

"We all expect you all to be on your best behavior." Professor Snape said.

"Any word of any of you not acting the way a Hogwarts student should, you will have your privilege to visit next month revoked and house points will be taken." Professor McGonagall said sharply.

"And don't forget about the possibility of detention." Snape added.

All the students looked around at each other wondering who it would be that would screw up today, or if it was going to happen. There was some slight excited muttering from a small group of Hufflepuffs to the right of Draco, which he sneered at. They noticed him giving them a bad look and quickly became silent. The professors in front of them looked over the large group of students for a moment, then Professor Flitwick said "You may go, but everyone is expected to find their way back to the castle in time for dinner."

Some students cheered and everyone began quickly heading into the village. There were of course some people who didn't know where to go, mostly muggleborns, but everyone was very excited. There were other Hogwarts students here already, all older students who didn't need a professor's escort to come to the village. There were so many shops that everyone could chose from, the most popular being Zonko's Joke Shop and Honeydukes.

Although most of the student's were making their way over there as well, Draco wanted to go to Zonko's right away. His father would never take him there when he was young, saying that everything there was too childish for any Malfoy. Draco always pretended like he didn't want to go so he would make his father happy, but he secretly amended that he would wait until their first school trip to visit the shop.

Although the shop was crowded, he shoved his way in and began looked around at all the shelves. He saw so many different things from Fanged Flyers to Pigmy Puffs to Sneakoscopes. There was everything here he could have ever wanted when he was a child. Looking around at everything, though, he realised that not really anything was what he would have wanted or used now. He decided against buying anything and wandered over to Honeydukes where he knew Crabbe and Goyle would be. Seeing that this shop was even more crowded than Zonko's, he decided to walk over to the Three Broomsticks for a butterbeer.

It was quite cold outside, and even though he had his cloak on the warmth inside the inn made his cheeks go red when he walked inside. He sat at a corner table in the back of the room and took off his cloak. A tall, scruffy looking waiter walked over to him and asked for his order in a scratchy voice.

"One butterbeer." Draco said to him, and the man walked away. Draco looked around and realised that not many students had chosen to come here. It was mostly village locals, or at least that's what they all looked like. There was a couple older students sitting toward the middle of the room, but that was all. Although he was alone, he was warm he had enough money to buy lunch here, so he decided he would stay here until Crabbe and Goyle had come found him.

As the waiter came back with his butterbeer the inn's door opened. A small group of people walked in, and because of the dimness of the room Draco didn't know who it was. They came closer, however, and sat a couple tables away from him. It made his heart sink for some reason. It was Cedric Diggory, Marcus Belby, Justin Finch-Fletchley, and Ashley. Ashley looked at Draco and frowned, nodding her head toward Cedric before sitting down next to him. Draco shrugged back at her before taking a sip of his butterbeer. It was still too hot, so he set it back down to let it cool.

Draco realised they hadn't talked since they had decided to be friends. They gave each other side glances to each other and shrugs, though they never talked or even smiled at each other. Neither one of them wanted to risk people finding out about them talking. Draco thought about sending an owl to her, but he decided against it, thinking that maybe she wasn't that much into talking to him, or maybe one of her friends would see that they were writing each other and they would tell Cedric. Draco had thought that maybe their friendship wasn't going to work at all, but he just decided to go with the flow. Whatever happened, happened. Or at least that's the mindset he wanted to have. Though he didn't want to, whenever he was alone he thought about all the questions that have been plaguing him ever since they first met. " _I know those lies all too well_ " What could she possibly mean?! It made no sense! Seeing her made him think that he needed to know everything about her and it drove him crazy. He almost considered getting up and leaving, but thought better of it. After all, where else would he go alone? He would rather sit here brooding in a warm area with a butterbeer than go outside and brood some more in the cold.

"-so it looks like we are playing next week." Draco overheard Cedric saying.

"But we haven't been practicing very much!" Justin didn't look happy at all. "I feel like the school should just cancel the game and give the win to Gryffindor since it was Malfoy's own insolence that caused the Slytherins to have to reschedule!"

"Yeah, but Draco's father would be furious because he seems to think the accident wasn't his fault." Cedric look at Justin clearly across the table. "And besides, if the school just gives a win to Gryffindor they would be that much closer to winning the quidditch tournament this year, and I do not want that happening this year. We have to at least try to beat them, and if not beat them then at least beat up some of their players a bit."

"You and I both know you're not fast enough to beat Harry at catching the snitch." Marcus said.

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean our chasers can't pull ahead enough to where it wouldn't matter if Potter caught the snitch or not." Cedric said, eyeing Justin.

"I guess they don't have anything special for their chasers other than Katie Bell…" Justin said thoughtfully.

"That a' kid." Cedric lightly hitting Justin on the shoulder.

"Hey, speaking of quidditch, didn't you want to go over to Dervish and Banges today?"

"Oh yeah, I forgot. Ashley, do you care if we go? I know this stuff bores you and you wouldn't want to go."

"No, no. go ahead. I'll just meet you back at the castle later I guess." she said. Although she said she didn't mind, her voice sounded a little disappointed. Cedric didn't notice though.

"Thanks. I'll see you later." He kissed her on the temple and left the inn flanked by both Marcus and Justin.

At this point, the waiter was walking up to Ashley's table. "Are you going to order anything?" he demanded.

"Oh, no thank you. Sorry. I haven't any money." she said, looking down at her hands.

"Well then get out of my inn, I don't have room for people to just sit here. I have customers waiting!"

"I'll pay for her." Draco said before he even knew what he was saying. They both looked at him, then the waiter looked at her.

"Then what are you having? I haven't got all day."

"Just a butterbeer, please." she said shyly, looking down at her hands again.

The waiter grumbled to himself and walked away. Draco got up, grabbed his butterbeer and walked over to the table she was sitting at and sat down across from her.

"Thank you." she said, looking at him.

"It's nothing." he said. There was a short awkward silence before he asked "So how have you been?"

"Oh, I've been okay. Just been busy studying. I haven't really had much time to do anything else."

"Tough classes?"

"Yeah…" she smiled down at her hands. "I've just taken a lot of classes this term. Professor Dumbledore wanted me to catch up on some classes I hadn't taken previously… and I didn't want to fall behind so I decided to take as many classes as I could."

"Why are you missing classes?" he wondered.

"It's a long story…"

"We have time." Draco looked around before finding a clock. It was 2:30. "We have at least three hours. And I don't have any plans." He smiled at her to try to encourage her.

"Yeah I guess…" She wouldn't meet his eye. She just kept looking down at her hands. "Okay, well… I guess when I was younger my parents and I moved around a lot. I lived all over the world, from Russia to America to Egypt." She sighed. "I liked seeing all those places, but I didn't like not having a stable place. When I was eleven and I got my Hogwarts letter, I was so happy. I would finally have somewhere I could go to that would be stable. But my parents said it wouldn't be good for me to go. They made arrangements with another smaller wizarding school for me to be home schooled."

"Why were you guys traveling so much? And why didn't your parents trust this school?" This made no sense to Draco. Even his father said that this was the best wizarding school in the world. "And how did you manage to get enrolled this year?"

She ignored his first two questions. "My parents… Disappeared in late June of last year. I was taken to the Ministry as an orphan, where a ministry official decided to adopt me. She heard my story and felt bad for me…" Oddly, she didn't look sad. She just looked uncomfortable. "That's how I met Cedric. The woman who adopted me was a friend of Cedric's parents. She immediately enrolled me into Hogwarts, and over the summer I caught up on a couple classes, but I still have five or so classes I need to catch up on."

It was really odd to Draco how she wasn't upset telling this story. It seemed tragic to him. Even Saint Potter couldn't handle bringing up his parents, and he never even got to know them! He knew there was more to the story, but he didn't want to pry. "I'm sorry." he said at last. "Is there anything I can do to help?" Draco really didn't know what was coming over him. He would never offer to help anyone. He didn't even help Crabbe and Goyle and they barely pass any of their classes.

"I have most of it under control… Except… You wouldn't happen to be any good at potions, would you? I'm awful…"

"I'm exceptional at potions." Draco said. It wasn't a lie, but the whole truth of it was that potions was his best class. "I could help you if you needed."

"That would be great." she said. "Thank you."

At this point the waiter came back with her butterbeer. "Thank you." she said to the waiter, then she turned to Draco. "Thank you so much."

"Really, it's nothing." Draco said, waving her off.

"No really. Thank you." she insisted. Draco just smiled a little before taking a drink of his butterbeer. She took a drink as well before continuing their small talk. "So when do you think you'll be able to play quidditch again?"

"My father says I shouldn't play for another few weeks or so, though it's hard to be sure." Draco held out his bandaged arm in order to show it off.

"It's really that bad?" she asked. Although he couldn't tell, Draco swore he could have heard a little bit of doubt in her voice.

"Well, yeah. I mean Madam Pomfrey says there will still be a scar even after all the spells and potions she tried."

"And you're upset enough about your arm scarring that you're blaming Hagrid?" Ashley looked at him and even though she was frowning at him, he knew that neither one of them wanted to fight bitterly like they had when they first had met.

"It's mostly my father that's stirring up a fuss." That wasn't entirely a lie. If it were up to him, he would gladly just forget anything ever happened and he would stay away from all of it. His father kept shoving the incident down his throat in his letters, though, and insisted on bringing Hagrid to the Ministry. Draco didn't care one way or the other if Hagrid got fired, as long as he didn't have to attend his classes anymore. "I honestly would rather stay out of it."

At this, Ashley's face turned from a visibly unpleased frown to a look of neutrality. "You could just tell your father that." she said leaning back a tad.

"If only it were that easy. But even if I really wanted to, there is already so much publicity angled at me and my father. He wouldn't let me call the trial off even if I tried." Draco was beginning to become uncomfortable. He didn't want her to think he was a bad person. Yeah, Draco knew he kind of was in some aspects, but he wasn't as horrible as his father. Hell, if it wasn't for his father and how much Draco cared for his approval, Draco wouldn't be the way he was!

"You know your father doesn't have to control your every move. You could tell a Ministry official what really happened privately. You and I both know Hagrid doesn't deserve to be fired over this."

"Yeah, I know… But you really don't know my father. He would find out. And not only that, if Hagrid didn't at least get fired my father would be furious. He would pitch a fit until he got what he wanted." Draco wished more than anything she would drop the subject. He was really uncomfortable talking about this to anyone, even Crabbe and Goyle.

"I'm sorry. I kind of understand what you mean." She looked down at her hands again clearly looking a bit uncomfortable herself.

"How could you possibly understand that?" Draco bit back a little more sharply than he had meant to.

"I just-" she began but was cut off my the door opening. Pansy and Blaise had walked in together and Draco jumped up, switching to the table behind them before they could notice who he had just been sitting with. When Pansy spotted Draco, she skipped over to his table and sat next to him. He drained the rest of his butterbeer and put down the sickles paying for both his and Ashley's drinks. He got up and made to leave but Pansy tried to stop him.

"Oh come on, Draco. Have a drink with me!" She grabbed his unbandaged arm and looked up at him pleading.

"No, sorry. I have some things I need to get done. I just stepped in here to warm up a bit." He pulled his arm away and gave Ashley a sorry look as he walked out the door.

Later that night Draco was sitting alone in the Slytherin common room still full from dinner. He was reading about Gargoyles for his Defence Against the Dark Arts homework when he heard a scratching noise at the door to the common room. Draco got up and drew his wand. He didn't know what it could be, and he was admittedly a bit startled by the sound. He walked slowly over to the door with his wand extended. He pulled it open, not knowing what he expected. He certainly didn't expect an owl to fly inside and perch itself on the arm of the black leather couch he had just been sitting on.

Draco lowered his wand and shut the door. He felt kind of ashamed that an owl had scared him so bad. He walked over to the owl and noticed it wasn't one he recognised. It was probably one of the school's owls. There was a small roll of parchment tied neatly to his leg, which the bird held out for him to take.

He untied the ribbon and unrolled the parchment. He didn't know who would be writing to him this late at night and what couldn't possibly wait until the post in the morning. Reading the parchment he understood immediately. It was from Ashley.

 _Draco,_

 _So about helping me with potions… I was thinking maybe we should meet tomorrow night in the astronomy tower. Right after dinner so we can have enough time before astronomy class starts at midnight._

 _Ashley_

Draco sat down and reread the letter before writing his reply below her message.

 _Sound good. Make sure you remember your potions book, parchment, and extra quills and ink._

 _Draco_

He rolled up the parchment and re-tied it to the owl's leg. He opened the door for the owl but it didn't move. It just stared at him and hooted a bit irritably. Draco rolled his eyes and walked over to a bowl of crackers sitting on a small table and fed him one. The owl chirped happily and rubbed his head on his fingers before flying out the open door. Draco closed it and returned to his place on the sofa. He didn't know why, but suddenly he was looking forward to tomorrow.

Ashley began to flood his mind as he tried to resume his reading. Something she had said earlier was getting to him. " _I kind of understand what you mean._ " How could she possibly? And what about all the other things she had said to him before than was still left unanswered? This girl was driving him crazy and he didn't know why.

Eventually he realized that he wasn't going to get any more reading done tonight and closed his book. He looked at the fireplace for a bit before gathering his things and deciding to just try to go to sleep. He would figure her out eventually. It would just take time.


End file.
